4 Days in London: The Perfect Trip Itinerary

By Guest Writer: Elisa Williams

How many days in London until you understand its people, culture, and fun places? After how many visits can you authoritatively claim that you have seen the better part of London? Well, anything from 4 days will be a good starting point, although you may have to come back over and over again in order to tour the city inside out. You need time to see its iconic infrastructure, tourist attraction sites, ethnic eateries, and the beautiful and diverse neighbourhoods.

If you have the time and resources, staying in London for a week or even a month would be okay. But because we understand that this may not always be possible, let’s look at the bare minimum: 4 days.

What can you do in London within 4 days in order to have the perfect trip?

London and Big Ben

For the purposes of this itinerary, we will assume that you arrived in London yesterday and that our first day will start right from when you wake up. Also, we highly advise that you explore most of the city on foot, by taking advantage of the free walking tours in London, as they provide a better opportunity to get closer to the real city culture. Also, if you are planning to spend the trip on a low budget, exploring the city on foot is ideal. However, initially, you should start off by booking a hotel or hostel. If you are on a tight budget, there are some awesome hostels in the city centre, that either provide breakfast or have a small kitchen enabling you to cook some meals for yourself before heading out. We will not dwell too much on how you got here. Let us dive right into the itinerary.

Read More: Walking Tours Around The World

Day One: The City of London

St Paul’s Cathedral

Starting from the St. Paul’s tube station, you will be able to see most of London City on your first day. You will need to be at the station by at least eight in the morning so that you can enter St. Paul’s Cathedral when it opens at 9.30am. In there, you will see the Duke of Wellington monument, the Stone and the Golden galleries, and other key chapels.

Before noon, you should be fully acquainted with British history at the Tower of London, crossed over to the Tower Bridge where you will take the best pictures of the city, and enjoyed watching the Crown Jewels. You are just in time for lunch at Borough Market, London’s biggest food market. All the traditional and multicultural foods are found here. However, if you are planning not to spend so much on this trip, there are several options for you. Try out the ethnic food, which involves kebab shops, whereby you can eat and have a drink with no more than $10. Additionally, as mentioned above, if you have booked a room with a kitchen, preparing something for yourself on the go, would save you quite some money. After your lunch head out to the Oxford Street for some shopping, Covent Garden for some live street performances, Hyde Park for leisure walks and some boating, and the West Yard for your dinner.

Day 2: The Museums

British Museum

Start your itinerary at the Museum of Natural History, Victoria and Albert Museum, and British Museum. Did you know that Natural History and the British Museum are totally free? It is incredible how much will learn in regards to the history of mankind, the animal kingdom, and space exploration. You will also have the chance to enjoy some British breakfast at the Museum of Natural History café. By the time you are done with the two museums, it will be lunchtime or thereabout. Get some culinary treats at the Berkeley Hotel as you prepare for some afternoon shopping at Fortnum & Mason and Carnaby Street. You will then close your day by having some cool dinner at Opium Dim Sum.

Day 3: Indulge in British Royalty

Buckingham Palace

Start your day at Buckingham Palace, the home to British royalty for over 170 years and the home to the current Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II. Be there by 10.30am in order to witness the changing of the guard ceremony at 10.45. If you are visiting during the summer, you will be allowed to book a ticket into the 775 royal rooms. However, you can also gaze at it from outside and enjoy the guard ceremony and save up your money.

Before heading for lunch, you can take a stroll in the very beautiful St. James Park, visit the 1000-year old Westminster Abbey, ride the London Eye, and crossed over to the Westminster Bridge for some photos.

It is now time for lunch and afternoon tea at Wallace, the cheapest joint in the neighborhood but with impeccable foods. After that, you can choose to try some London Pubs or take an afternoon tea river cruise.

Day 4: A Tour to the Outskirts

London boasts of suburbs that would easily pass as smaller cities. Start your day in one of these small cities- Greenwich- and enjoy the many amenities it has to offer. It has parks, pubs, and restaurants that aren’t as crowded as those in the city. Here, you will learn everything about the Meridian line and how it affects time all over the world. You will also enjoy some time in the Cutty Sark and the east and west hemispheres. For your lunch, try the local delicacies in one of the Meridian restaurants.

After lunch, you can opt to take a bus to the Chislehurst to see the Chislehurst Caves or go ice skating or scale the O2 concert arena.

Bottom line

London has too much to offer. With time and a flexible budget, you will have too much to do within four days. And who knows, you can even choose to extend to a 5th or 6th day, or more.

Elisa’s Bio:

Elisa is a young and ambitious girl who has been researching self-development for the past two years and is now off traveling the world. Her mission is to inspire others to live their dreams and be the person to whom they say; “Because of you, I never gave up”.

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I’m reading this post at the perfect time, as we are headed to London next week! We have been before and are looking forward to checking out some new sights. St. Paul’s Cathedral is one of my favorites, so we are returning there on our first day! Kensington is our personal favorite place to stay.

London is one place that I really want to explore. I am so intrigued by its architecture and art. I believe that to explore and understand a place, you need months. But, as you said, 4 days is a good starting point. Thanks for this itinerary. It will definitely help to plan a London trip.

What a nice compact itinerary. I’m not sure if I’d be willing to spend a whole day in museums though. I might break it up a bit so that I don’t get museumed out. I have been wanting to see the Millenium Bridge ever since I saw it in Harry Potter (ha!), so I’m glad that it isn’t just me that is interested in it!

It might sound crazy but I still haven’t visited London despite being in the UK six times. I’m finally hoping to change that this year and this article helped a lot. You sure managed to cover a lot in only four days. Thank you for sharing

It’s good to know that London offers free city walking tours. It really helps for budget travelers. I like this itinerary because it covers most of what visitors want to see in London and it’s not packed. You still have time in the late afternoon to do whatever you want to do, and she even gave suggestions on what to do if you don’t really know London.